The Pelican Nebula

The Pelican Nebula

This image was taken with the KPNO/WIYN 0.9m telescope on May 24, 2002. It shows the “ionization front” in the Pelican nebula, a giant nearby star-formation region. The Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) is located in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. Its pillars are being sculpted by the intense ultraviolet radiation from massive stars which have recently formed within the nebula. 

The image was produced Oxygen [OIII] (blue), Hydrogen-Alpha (green) and Sulphur [SII] (red) narrowband filters. 7x6min in H-alpha, 4x6min in [OIII], 5x6min in [SII]. The image is rotated 135 degrees CW from North is up, East to the left.

Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Image Date: May 24, 2002

Release Date: June 30, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Pelican #PelicanNebula #Nebula #IC5070 #Stars #Cygnus #Constellation #KPNO #WIYN #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #Telescope #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KittPeak #NationalObservatory #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Portrait: NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim in High Altitude Pressure Suit

Portrait: NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim in High Altitude Pressure Suit

Award-winning photo of NASA astronaut Jonny Kim wearing a high-altitude pressure suit worn in NASA's WB-57 aircraft, which is capable of flying at altitudes over 60,000 feet. Kim is a U.S. Navy SEAL, naval officer, and a veteran of over 100 combat operations. He is the recipient of the Silver Star and Bronze Star.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/jonny-kim-md-lcdr-us-navy-nasa-astronaut

Congratulations to photographer, Norah Moran—a first place winner of NASA's fourth annual "Photographer of the Year" awards for 2021.

Photographer: Norah Moran – Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: December 10, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronaut #JonnyKim #USNavy #SEAL #Military #Veteran #KoreanAmerican #AsianAmerican #FlightSuit #HighAltitude #WB57 #Aircraft #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #Science #Technology #Photography #Art #STEM #Education

New Shepard: Human Spaceflight History | Blue Origin

New Shepard: Human Spaceflight History | Blue Origin

"This month marks the one-year anniversary of our First Human Flight. Each mission gets us closer to our vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. Re-live some of the highlights."

Learn more: https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/

Credit: Blue Origin

Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds

Release Date: July 6, 2022

#NASA #Earth #Space #BlueOrigin #Rocket #NewShepard #Spacecraft #JeffBezos #Technology #Engineering #Texas #UnitedStates #Suborbital #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTourism #NewSpace #Commercial #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronauts Answer Florida Student Questions | International Space Station

NASA Astronauts Answer Florida Student Questions | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins of NASA answered pre-recorded questions about life and work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight event July 6, 2022, with students at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center in Vero Beach, Florida. 

Hines and Watkins are in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. 

Learn more about the important research being operated on ISS: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 21 minutes

Release Date: July 6, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Students #VeroBeach #Florida #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #BobHines #Cosmonauts #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Laboratory #Experiments #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #Italy #Italia #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earth Glow & Stars | International Space Station

Earth Glow & Stars | International Space Station

This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 61 crew on board the International Space Station (ISS). The sequence of shots were taken on December 30, 2019 from 22:40:00 to 23:10:15 GMT, on a night pass over Africa. The ISS passes over yellow-hued city lights while bright bursts of lightening fill the sky. The star of this time-lapse video is the star field above the Earth glow around the atmospheric limb.

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the  International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 40 seconds

Release Date: February 14, 2020

#NASA #Space #Earth #Planet #Science #EarthLight #Atmosphere #Africa #Stars #Astronauts #Photography #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition61 #STEM #Education #Timelapse #HD #Video

Stratovolcanoes of South America | International Space Station

Stratovolcanoes of South America | International Space Station

The Parinacota and Pomerape stratovolcanoes (top to bottom) are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the South American nation of Chile. Parinacota is a dormant volcano on the Chile-Bolivia border and its peak is about 20,800 feet. Pomerape, last active over 100,000 years ago, is also on the Chile- Bolivia border with an elevation of about 20,600 feet. At top left, is Chungará Lake in northern Chile which rests about 14,800 feet above sea level.

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions, although some have collapsed summit craters called calderas.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: June 21, 2022

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #Geology #Volcanoes #Stratovolcanoes #CompositeVolcanoes #Conical #Parinacota #Pomerape #Chile #Bolivia #ChungaráLake #SouthAmerica #Astronauts #Photography #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition67 #STEM #Education

The Owl Nebula | Gemini North

The Owl Nebula | Gemini North

Gemini North image of the planetary nebula M97, also known as the Owl Nebula, imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS). The approximately 6,000 year-old nebula is located about 2,600 light-years away, and has a diameter of about three light-years across. It is located in the constellation of Ursa Major (which contains the Big Dipper).

Credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Émilie Storer (Collège Charlemagne, Quebec) / André-Nicolas Chené (HIA/NRC of Canada) / T. Rector (U. Alaska, Anchorage).

Release Date: March 25, 2010

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #M97 #PlanetaryNebula #OwlNebula #Stars #UrsaMajor #Constellation #GeminiNorth #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #Telescope #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #MaunaKea #Hawaii #UnitedStates #Canada #STEM #Education

Mars: Flooded Impact Craters in Hebrus Valles | NASA MRO

Mars: Flooded Impact Craters in Hebrus Valles | NASA MRO

Hebrus Valles are a complex set of channels in the northern lowlands of Mars just to the west of the Elysium volcanic region.

Black and white images are 5 km across; enhanced color images are 1 km.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is the second longest-lived spacecraft to orbit Mars, after 2001 Mars Odyssey. It has been studying the Red Planet since March 2006. The spacecraft collects and relays daily science and weather data. It also scouts for landing locations for Mars landers and serves as a critical relay station for science beamed back from the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on MRO, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.

Credit: NASA/JPL/UArizona

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 29, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Geology #HebrusValles #Elysium #Volcanic #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Atlas V USSF-12 Launch Highlights | United Launch Alliance

Atlas V USSF-12 Launch Highlights | United Launch Alliance

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the USSF-12 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command lifted off on July 1, 2022, at 7:15 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V rocket uses Russian RD-180 engines.

First launched in 2002, the expendable Atlas V launcher was the centerpiece vehicle that helped cement ULA’s work on national security satellite missions and some of NASA’s biggest space exploration initiatives, including all of the agency’s robotic missions to Mars. To date ULA has launched 151 times with 100 percent mission success.

Credit: United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Duration: 1 minute, 19 seconds

Release Day: July 5, 2022

#NASA #Earth #Space #Satellites #USSF #USSF12 #SpaceForce #Military #ULA #AtlasV #Rocket #CapeCanaveral #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

New NASA Spacesuits for Artemis: Moon Dust and Mobility | JSC

New NASA Spacesuits for Artemis: Moon Dust and Mobility | JSC

Exploration is dirty work! Advanced spacesuits will protect the first woman and person of color on the Moon from the harsh lunar environment. Lunar soil is not simple dust like what we have on Earth. It is irregular, sharp, and fine and it creates challenges for spacesuit engineers. Find out how NASA research and development are shaping spacesuits for the Artemis generation.

Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/suitup

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: July 5, 2022

#NASA #Space #Earth #Moon #Apollo #Artemis #Spacesuits #xEVAS #EVA #Spacewalks #Moonwalks #AxiomSpace #CollinsAerospace #MoonToMars #JourneyToMars #SolarSystem #Exploration #Engineering #Technology #UnitedStates #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

The Star Funnel: Sh2-126 | Mayall Telescope

The Star Funnel: Sh2-126 | Mayall Telescope

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the 'star funnel', this dark nebula is yellowish in color because it is being illuminated by several bright stars nearby. The funnel is embedded in a larger nebula of warm hydrogen gas that is glowing red. The image was generated with observations in B (blue), V (green), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN Observatory)/National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Release Date: June 30, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #Sh2126 #Stars #Lacerta #Constellation #Mayall #WIYN #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #Telescope #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KittPeak #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Northern Lights Take Center Stage Over Central Alaska

Northern Lights Take Center Stage Over Central Alaska

John Chumak: "These are photos of auroras I captured while teaching my annual Aurora Workshop in Alaska earlier this year. After a two-year shutdown due to pandemic concerns, we finally received clearance to go north again. It was worth the wait! I have to say that these were some of the best auroras I’ve seen in 32-years of observing them."

Northern lights or auroras occur whenever the energized particles that makeup the solar wind interact with oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere (at least 50 miles or 80 km above the surface). The key is that the Sun has to be sufficiently active to generate solar wind streams that reach the Earth’s orbit.

Location: Chena Hot Springs, Alaska 

Coordinates: 65.0518, -146.0510

Learn more about aurora: 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-news-stories/index.html

Image Credit: John Chumack

John's website: https://www.galacticimages.com

Caption Credit: Jim Foster & John Chumack

Image Capture Date: Late March 2022 

Release Date: July 4, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Sun #SolarSystem #SolarWind #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #Magnetosphere #Atmosphere #Science #Physics #Photography #Art #ChenaHotSprings #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #EPOD

Mars: A Complex Geologic History of Aram Chaos | NASA MRO

Mars: A Complex Geologic History of Aram Chaos | NASA MRO

This 280-kilometer diameter crater center has experienced a long history of water activity. Within the crater is a heavily faulted and fractured terrain called Aram Chaos that consists of darker volcanic rocks that were disrupted as a result of water and/or magma withdrawal in the subsurface. 

Black and white images are 5 km across; enhanced color images are 1 km. For full images including scale bars, visit the source link.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is the second longest-lived spacecraft to orbit Mars, after 2001 Mars Odyssey. It has been studying the Red Planet since March 2006. The spacecraft collects and relays daily science and weather data. It also scouts for landing locations for Mars landers and serves as a critical relay station for science beamed back from the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on MRO, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.

Video Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/University of Arizona

Narration: Tre Gibbs

Tre's website: www.tregibbs.com

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 29, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Geology #AramChaos #Volcanic #Water #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan 

Apollo 17 - December 12, 1972

Mission Commander Alan Shepard 

Apollo 14 - February 5, 1971 

Mission Commander David R. Scott

Apollo 15 - August 1, 1971

Mission Commander John Young

Apollo 16 - April 1972

A close-up view of the U.S. flag

Taurus-Littrow landing site - Apollo 17

December 1972

Learn about NASA's Apollo Program—Apollo 7-17 (1968-1972):

https://history.nasa.gov/apollo.html

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-apollo-program-58.html

Through Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, heralding a new era for space exploration and utilization. The Artemis missions are increasingly complex endeavours that will lay the foundation for sustainable human and robotic exploration of Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon.

Learn about NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

NASA's Orion Spacecraft

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/about/index.html

Image Credits: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Dates: 1971-1972

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Moon #Artemis #Apollo #History #IndependenceDay #4thOfJuly #UnitedStates #Apollo14 #Apollo15 #Apollo16 #Apollo17 #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #USA #STEM #Education

Hubble Spies a Galactic Gem: Galaxy CGCG 396-2

Hubble Spies a Galactic Gem: Galaxy CGCG 396-2

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observation has captured the galaxy CGCG 396-2, an unusual multi-armed galaxy merger which lies around 520 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion. 

This observation is a gem from the Galaxy Zoo project, a citizen science project in which hundreds of thousands of volunteers classified galaxies to help scientists solve a problem of astronomical proportions—how to sort through the vast amounts of data generated by robotic telescopes. Following a public vote, a selection of the most astronomically intriguing objects from the Galaxy Zoo were selected for follow-up observations with Hubble. CGCG 396-2 is one such object, and was captured in this image by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The Galaxy Zoo project originated when an astronomer was set an impossibly mind-numbing task; classifying more than 900,000 galaxies by eye. By making a web interface and inviting citizen scientists to contribute to the challenge, the Galaxy Zoo team was able to crowdsource the analysis, and within six months a legion of 100,000 volunteer citizen astronomers had contributed more than 40 million galaxy classifications.

Since its initial success, the Galaxy Zoo project and its successor projects have contributed to more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and led to a rich variety of intriguing astronomical discoveries above and beyond their initial goals. The success of the project also inspired more than 100 citizen science projects on the Zooniverse portal, ranging from analyzing data from the ESA Rosetta spacecraft's visit to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko to counting killer whales around remote Alaskan islands!

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel

Release Date: July 4, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #CGCG3962 #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #CitizenScience #GalaxyZoo #STEM #Education

Meteor Shower in the Chilean Desert

Meteor Shower in the Chilean Desert

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower, which peaked in early May this year, was captured in this stunning image by astrophotographer Petr Horálek. It was taken near San Pedro de Atacama, a Chilean town about 50 km away from the Chajnantor observatory site, where APEX and ALMA, astronomical facilities co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), are located. The Eta Aquariids meteors are caused by leftover debris from Halley’s comet and make up the bright, arrow-like darts of light in the photo. But don’t stop there: this image is literally full to the brim of astronomical phenomena. 

The luminous object towards the bottom of the sky is Venus. Above it, arranged in a satisfying line, are several planets in conjunction. Directly above Venus is Jupiter, followed by the bright red Mars, and then Saturn. Conjunctions such as this are rare, often occurring decades apart. The planets also trace the zodiacal light, the faint glow stretching like a pillar, up towards the bright stellar-dense center of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. 

Zodiacal light is often seen from dark sites like ESO observatories just after sunset, or before sunrise, and is the reflected sunlight from dust particles in the plane of the Solar System. The dust comes from asteroids, passing comets, and even from other inner Solar System planets, such as Mars. Here we see the zodiacal light paired with the red sunset over the mountains and volcanoes surrounding the Chajnantor site, a spectacular backdrop to this dreamy night sky.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Petr Horalek

Release Date: July 4, 2022

#ESO #Space #Astronomy #Earth #Planets #Venus #Jupiter #Mars #Saturn #Meteors #EtaAquariids #ZodiacalLight #Astrophotography #PetrHorálek #Astrophotographer #Chajnantor #Observatory #SanPedrodeAtacama #Chile #SouthAmerica #SolarSystem #MilkyWay #Galaxy #STEM #Education